Name: John GarganoRing Name(s): Cedrick Von Haussen, Joey Gray, Johnny GarganoFrom: Cleveland, OhioDate of Birth: August 14, 1987Working For: WWE NXT, AIW, etcMini Biography: Johnny Gargano's infatuation with wrestling skyrocketed at the age of eight-years-old, when he first stepped inside of a wrestling ring. Eight years later, the Ohio native would enroll in Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling's school, and since then the independent sensation has yet to quit. Making his professional wrestling debut in 2005, Johnny Gargano has since then torn through the independent wrestling world - making his name prominent in companies such as Dragon Gate USA and Chikara. Now he has made his way to WWE NXT, regularly teaming with good friend Tommaso Ciampa as well as being a competitor in the first ever Cruiserweight Classic. There is only one place for him - the top. Johnny Gargano is "All Heart" and has a long history to prove it.

In a matter of days, Johnny Gargano came up short of capturing the NXT Tag Team Titles and was eliminated from the Cruiserweight Classic. How is Johnny Wrestling dealing with these setbacks?

#TeamBlameRichSwann

If you've ever wanted to learn how to make a child cry, head on over to our partner site (Chuck-Taylor.org) for all the late-breaking news on the sexy Kentucky Gentleman. There, you can catch a glimpse of one of Johnny's most prominent tag team partners in their impressive gallery while keeping up-to-date on Kentucky's finest export!

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Have you ever met Johnny Gargano? At a signing, on the street, a show? Nabbed a selfie with him? Maybe taken a photo of him at a show you've attended? Well, we've got a gallery that those photos would look plenty impressive in! If you'd like to donate candids, email at us at jgarganocom@outlook.com. Any photos we receive will be posted with full credit to you. Alternatively, find a photo in our gallery that we don't have you credited for? Email us, we'll remedy the situation by attaching the correct credit or removing it entirely. 100% up to you.

Johnny-Gargano.com is affiliated with Johnny Gargano. HOWEVER, we are not Johnny Gargano himself. Johnny-Gargano.com is not affiliated with World Wrestling Entertainment, Absolute Intense Wrestling, EVOLVE, SMASH and/or any other wrestling organization Johnny Gargano has worked for. All media found on this site is copyright to Johnny-Gargano.com, if not credited. No copyright infringement is intended. All photos are being used under the fair copyright law 107.

BOLA is as big as you’ve heard. PWG isn’t the front-runner for best independent wrestling promotion for no reason, and BOLA — the yearly crowning tournament — is one of the many reasons as to why it’s earned it’s high regard. BOLA is a three-day tournament where numerous wrestlers battle off to a final three-way match where the winner is crowned, and for the second year in a row, Johnny was invited to the international tournament. Bringing in talents such as Kenny Omega, Chris Sabin, Zack Sabre Jr, AJ Styles, and Curt Hawkins, this tournament had seemingly been set up for a whole ‘nother level.

And this year, it certainly brought it.

We don’t want to gloat, but 23 people were involved in this year’s tournament, and our boy made it into the final three. Starting off with beating his former tag team partner, Chuck Taylor, Johnny then went on to mow down both Trevor Lee and Candice LeRae. Winding up in the finals with one man he knows very well, Ricochet, Johnny also had to look out for the man who advanced to the finals after assaulting the PWG champion, Kyle O’Reilly.

Unfortunately, the task seemed to be too large, and Ricochet was awarded this year’s winner of the Battle of Los Angeles. However, making it to the final three is an accomplishment of it’s own, I do believe, and we’re more than happy for you, Johnny! Train like Rocky all up until next year. 2015 will be your year, bub!

It’s been a match that’s happened in numerous other promotions, but finally ended with an explosion at Wrestling Cares in Gardena tonight! Both Adam Cole and Johnny have been crawling up the walls of the company since they were thrown into the tournament back in June. Johnny was forced to come over the likes of Chase Stevens, Drake Younger, Adam Pearce, and Papadon!

The finals consisted of him and one of the best in independent wrestling today, and like always, neither man let the audience down. Johnny came out with the victory, and quite the nice and shiny ring — something that we’re sure will go well with his Open the Freedom Gate championship, right?! Congratulations to Gargano. You know we both think you deserve all the good and shiny things in the world here at johnny-gargano.com!

Thanks to PWInsider, we have some detailed results beneath the read more! Enjoy, and send your congratulations to the good ol’ Son of the Land of the Cleve!

Match Six: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano: Finals of the Race for the Ring Tournament 20 minute time limit.Good fundamental chain wrestling over the first 4 minutes which was highlighted by a great series of counters as each guy tried to hit a few of their signature kicks and strikes. The first big strike is hit by Gargano as he hits a great kick to Cole with both men on the mat, he follows with double knees to the corner, but as he tries to take Cole across the ring he gets caught with the Florida Keys out of nowhere for the fall. Cole leads 1-0 with 14:20 left. Cole grabs a chinlock and immediately finds the HD screen closest to him so he can track the time. Now that he has the lead he’s going to lean on Gargano and make him fight his way up trying to burn clock. Gargano does fight back with sudden strikes, hits a running snake eyes drilling Cole into the middle buckle and following up with a kick to the head on the grounded Cole to tie the match with 12 minutes remaining. In an absolutely great sequence Gargano is on the turnbuckles looking for a big move, Cole sweeps him off the turnbuckles into a backbreaker and then drills him with a brainbuster over his knee to take a 2-1 lead with 10:30 left. Cole now with a headscissors to wear down Gargano and burn clock while forcing his opponent to carry his weight. Gargano fights his way up, hits two strikes, and shoots Cole to the other side, Cole grabs the ropes and takes a powder. Gargano chases him because he’s behind, Cole dives back into the ring and tries to get the jump on Gargano. Another good sequence ends with Cole going for the figure four, Gargano countering into the small package and each man reversing small packages until Gargano ties it up at 2-2 with 8 minutes to go. Another series of great counters as each man has the other’s moves scouted very well ends with Cole finally getting the figure four leglock and a tapout victory for a 3-2 lead with 6:44 to go. Cole with the lead now powders out again forcing Gargano to chase him and burn more clock. Gargano chases him back in, Cole tries to charge him but is drilled with Gargano’s slingshot spear through the ropes for a near fall. Another great sequence of scouted counters has Gargano cover up to block a superkick, Cole drilling a kick to the leg, both guys reversing moves until Gargano hits the full nelson spinout slam for the fall that ties it up at 3-3 with 3:31 left. Cole misses and axe handle off the top and tweaks his knee on the way down. Gargano smells blood and starts to relentlessly attack the leg. Cole keeps him at bay with a kick to the face with his good leg and gets Gargano back in the figure four. Gargano turns it over and Cole is forced to tap to the reversal because of his injured leg. LOVE IT. 4-3 Gargano with 1:25 left. Les Thatcher checks with Cole to see if he can continue. Cole says yes, Gargano charges for the killing blow but Cole counters. Cole goes for a suplex but Gargano drills his knee to the head counter. Cole goes for it again and as Gargano tries to counter with his knee Cole cinches his leg and hits a Fisherman Buster to tie it at 4-4 with 30 seconds left. Time expires and we have OT. Cole hits an Enzuigiri and a Shining Wizard for a near fall to start OT. Another great counter sequence before Gargano drills his full nelson spinout slam for a near fall. Crowd thought that was the finish. “This is awesome!” chants. Cole hits a superkick to the face and a superkick to the back of the head. He hits the Florida Keys but can’t hold the pinning combo due to his injured leg. Cole shakily goes to the top, Gargano counters, locks in the Rings of Saturn, Cole escapes, Gargano locks it in again as time runs out. Les Thatcher announces that this is the finals and we’re going until we have a winner. Double OT! Both guys on their knees throwing bombs ala Tully and Magnum in the I Quit match. Both guys to their feet exhausted trying to slug it out. Gargano goes for his spear through the ropes and gets killed with a Superkick. Cole slams him down for a near fall and the crowd loses it. This is fantastic. Cole sets Gargano for a Samoan Drop off the top Gargano fights his way out with a sunset powerbomb hits the double knees in the corner. Hits the running Snake Eyes into the far corner, hits a second running Snake Eyes into the near cornerand it is another near fall. Rings of Saturn back in and Cole gets the ropes. This is a big time championship main event match. Both guys are on the apron slugging it out again. Cole hits a superkick and DDTs Gargano on the apron. Both men are down and out outside the ring. Cole in at 6. Gargano barely beats the count. Cole hits him with the Canadian Destroyer as Gargano struggles back to his feet. Near fall! Cole is besieged with apoplexy! “Wrestling Cares” chant from the fans. Cole hits Gargano with several headbutts. Cole screams “Johnny!” and drills Gargano with a superkick, Gargano immediately fires back with his own superkick. Both guys stagger and steady themselves and hit stereo superkicks on each other. Cole crumbles to the mat and Gargano crumbles on top of him for the fall. Incredible match. Get this DVD when it comes out. Watch this match. These guys laid it all on the line.

Winner: Johnny Gargano

Les Thatcher is in the ring and puts over both guys saying “If the business is in the hands of young men like you it will be just fine.” Cole thanks Gargano for being the best he’s ever been in the ring with. Gargano picks up the champagne for the celebration and says “I’m Straight Edge so I can’t drink this, but if I was going to drink this I would raise a glass to Adam Cole.” Gargano puts Cole over as a great opponent, colleague, and friend. He then presents the victory champagne to Adam Cole. Cole pops the champagne and starts to spray it in the ring, Gargano runs so he doesn’t accidentally drink any. Les presents Gargano with the ring. I can see it gleaming from here. First class ceremony. This was a fantastic 9 month tournament. I really enjoyed every show and I wish we’d see more true alternatives like this in the wrestling business. On every level this was an artistic success. All the crew should be proud of themselves. I’d love for another one of these to start up tomorrow. Gargano puts over the fans, points out a kid with a “Yes!” sign in the first row and we get our first “YES! YES! YES!” chant of the tournament. I can’t recommend this enough. GET THE DAMN DVD.

Heading into EVOLVE with his head held high and a purpose in mind, Johnny teamed up with Trent tonight in Queens. Did the makeshift tag team fare well against the worked duo of Rich Swann and Ricochet? Click the read more for detailed results from PWInsider!

Rich Swann & Ricochet vs. DGUSA champ Johnny Gargano & Trent?
Swann vs. Gargano is set for tomorrow in Brooklyn. If Gargano’s team wins tonight, it’s a Loser Leaves Town bout for Swann. If Swann’s team wins, it’s a title defense for Gargano tomorrow.Gargano says he’s refusing to fight Swann because he loves him, so Trent started the match. The crowd started singing “Why can’t we be friends?”

Trent shoulderblocked Swann down hard. Swann used some dazzling moves and superkicked him out of the ring, Swann played to the crowd, allowing Gargano to then attack him from behind. Trent returned to the ring and drilled him. Swann made a comeback. He and Ricochet nailed some nice double team maneuvers.

Ricochet tied up Trent and smashed his head into the buckles over and over. He then tied him up in different holds, trying to force a submission. Gargano hit the ring but ended up tied up on the mat, allowing Trent to attack him.

Gargano and Trent double teamed Swann. Gargano drilled him with an awesome dropkick to the back of the head. You can see that Gargano is really growing as a worker in this role. He reminds me a LOT of Chris Jericho. Trent started acting like he was going to do this insane move then just kicked Ricochet in the gut.

Trent cinched in a front facelock. Ricochet fought his way to his feet. He went for a tag but Trent cut him off and leveled him with a lariat. Gargano held his legs out and Ricochet was drilled into his boots. He tagged in and worked over Ricochet.

He beat down Ricochet in the corner but was shocked when Riochet fired back. They ended up both down. Trent tagged in and cut off Swann to prevent him from making the tag. He then drilled Ricochet with a back suplex for a two count.

Gargano tagged back in but was cut off with an elbow as he charged. Trent hit the ring but was tossed out. Swann was about to get tagged but was pulled off the apron by Trent. The storytelling in this is awesome.

Trent and Gargano pulled him back to their corner and trashed Ricochet. He finally laid them both out with a sequence that saw Trent accidentally grab Gargano and then Ricochet nailed a neckbreaker that took them both out.

Swann tagged in FINALLY and hit a missile dropkick on both. He wiped out Gargano with a great dive. Ricochet and Trent went back and forth. Swann returned to the ring and they double teamed Trent with an awesome flurry of offense for a two count.

Ricochet went for a 450 splash but Trent rolled out of the way. Ricochet landed on his feet but Gargano distracted him. Trent took him out. They went into an awesome series of sequences, which the crowd was blown away by.

They began firing back and forth with forearms and chops. Trent nailed a reverse piledriver after Gargano superkicked Ricochet but Swann broke it up at the last second.

Gargano battered Swann and spit on him. That woke up Swann who went face to face with his former partner and began beating the holy hell out of him. Swann unloaded with some massive chops. Gargano caught him and trapped him on his shoulders, allowing Trent to nail a flying knee off the top into his face for a two count. Gargano was shocked he kicked up.

Gargano said, “I’m sorry Rich, I love you.” and set him up to be decimated but Ricochet returned and drilled him with a big dropkick to the face. Ricochet hit a 720 on Gargano. Swann hit his standing 450 splash and scored the pin.

Your winners, Ricochet & Rich Swann!

Just an awesome tag match that was so ridiculously good, it was criminal there were only 100 or so fans here.

Swann will have a DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate title shot tomorrow.

Swann took the mic and asked everyone what they thought of the match. He said that now he’s kicked his ass, he gets to name the stipulation. He said he knows the belt means the world to Gargano, so he doesn’t need to add any stipulations. He said that he knows he can beat him and tomorrow he will.

Perhaps in one of the shockers thus far of the evening, Johnny Gargano is now set for the semi-finals in the Battle of Los Angeles on his first ever attempt. Debuting for PWG at All Star Weekend, Johnny is one of the newest talents for PWG, and his success is expected by all who truly know him. Going over one of PWG’s finest and most beloved stars, Kevin Steen, and making him submit to the GargaNO Escape, Johnny is now set to go against some of the best in the rest of the tournament.

Despite Johnny being known for his heart, he was certainly set up for a challenge of a lifetime. Coming toe-to-toe with one of PWG’s resident monsters, Johnny showed no fear in the face of Michael Elgin. In an absolutely amazing match that tore the roof off of Reseda, Johnny unfortunately fell victim to an Avalanche Bomb from the second rope, eliminating him from the tournament.

However, getting this far on his singles debut means the world in PWG, so be sure to send him your congratulations!

Though currently details are slim, we are pleased to announce that Johnny has, in fact, advanced to the second round of BOLA! Going over popular PWG frequent, Willie Mack, Johnny managed to make Mack tap out with the GargaNO Escape tonight in Reseda. Now set to go on to Night Two in the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles, Johnny has a challenge before him that’s currently unknown, but is sure to be remarkable. We’ll keep you updated as the weekend goes on!

During his impressive stint in Florida for the recent EVOLVE weekend, Johnny Gargano caught up with the folks at Pro Wrestling CSI for an interview. Absolutely gleeful because he gets to wear shorts and a tank in the hot Florida weather, Johnny engages in a fun interview with Hal Lee and speaks of things such as Dragon Gate USA, his preparation, the use of the Internet for the guys on the independent scene, and so much more!

If you ever question Johnny Gargano’s integrity after tonight, I do believe you’re quite the fool.

In the most anticipated match of the evening, Johnny Gargano took on the ever popular luchador, Samuray Del Sol. One year ago, Johnny Gargano stood in a similar position that Del Sol was currently in – rumors circulating about his signing to the WWE. With his DGUSA contract running out, Johnny had the option of going to the main stage, or remaining with the company that helped shoot him into the spotlight. One year later, Johnny’s decision is obvious – still your reigning Open the Freedom Gate champion, taking on all challenges set before him. With a fast-paced competitor standing across the ring from him – who was a clear fan favorite, Johnny brought his all.

In an absolutely remarkable match up, Johnny and Del Sol fought throughout the Orpheum in Ybor City, Florida. With commentary – consisting of Chuck Taylor and the usual voice of DGUSA, Lenny Leonard – speaking of Johnny’s recent “personality change,” Johnny brought his all against the fast-paced star with the utmost respect. Strikes to Del Sol’s hamstrings – NEVER a low blow, he’s classier than that – and starting a Lucha chant of his own, Johnny reminded all why he is your understandable inspirational hero.

Running a marathon, the two brought their all – switching from a fast paced momentum to a slow series that ended with Gargano doing Del Sol a favor. With the WWE rumors in the air, he gleefully removed the mask of Del Sol to give the fans a preview of their next highflyer, then locking in the Gargano Escape. Tapping immediately, Del Sol gave Johnny the victory who celebrated like any honest man would: Trotting around in the mask of the fallen Del Sol, much to the confusing rage of the audience in attendance.

After the killing opening match at the kickstart event of this EVOLVE weekend, Johnny Gargano understandably took a well deserved rest before meeting up with Gabe earlier today. With a mild confrontation about Johnny’s tactics during his match with Shingo at Wrestlecon, Gabe was cut off as Johnny informed him of the utmost truth. All he did was show all the heart in the world – as he did last night with his match against Matt Jackson. Your hero, however, still has two matches set up for him this exciting, action-packed weekend. Involved in the USA vs. the World series, Johnny chose himself as the leader for Team USA – rightfully so! (After all, Ohio is the epicenter of America, anyway, and he does bleed red, white, and blue.) Taking on Tomahawk T.T. on Saturday, Johnny plans to lead America to the good ol’ victory it deserves.

And then on Sunday, perhaps one of the most exciting matches of the summer set, Johnny will take on the King of Flight, Samuray Del Sol. Mentioning the rumors floating around about the high-flyer, Johnny reminds everyone of one thing: He, instead, resigned like the inspiration he truly is, who does what’s best for the company that made him. Just like how he fights his hardest to remain champion, knowing that it makes DGUSA.

And now, he’s off to Universal in celebration! Don’t fall off any rides, Gargano!

EVOLVE 21 & 22 are still set to go underway this Saturday and Sunday, with loaded cards you just don’t wanna miss. If you’re interested in ordering, the link is down below with packages that start at $10. Be sure to purchase the day before the event, so the five dollar price hike does not go into effect!

In the opening contest in the first show of the upcoming tripleshot weekend for EVOLVE, Johnny Gargano took on a man he knows far too well. With numerous tag team matches in their past, the two competitors brought the intensity in the very first match up. In a match that was described as “worthy for the VOD alone,” Johnny managed to squeeze past Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks to obtain the victory. Now 1-0 for this EVOLVE weekend, Johnny’s tore open the (freedom) gate (badumtish!) and began his mad dash towards complete Florida domination.

The VOD will be uploaded to WWNLive tomorrow, so if this has been a match of your dreams, there’s still a chance for you to see it, and view all you desire. The link for purchase is down below!